Choe Survives, Sigel Cruises at Birchmont

ALEXANDRIA -- Defending champion Brian Choe had to rally from a 2-down deficit Wednesday on the back nine at Alexandria Golf Club, but he ended up winning the 18th hole with a par and claiming a 1-up victory over Lukas Bigger in the first round of matches at the 98th Resorters. 

Choe, who will be a sophomore at Kansas State this fall, started the match with a birdie at the first hole. But the No. 1 seed lost the third and fourth holes with bogeys, and Bigger eagled the par-5 sixth to go 2 up. A birdie by Choe at the eighth cut the deficit in half, but then Bigger birdied the 10th. Choe responded by winning three of the next four holes to go 1 up.

Bigger, who had to survive a 6-for-1 playoff just to get into the Championship Flight matches, pulled even with a birdie at the 15th and halved the 16th and 17th with pars, before making a costly bogey at the 18th. 

Ben Sigel, the former Minnesota state high school champion from Minnetonka, was the medalist (he shot 68-69--137 in qualifying) and is the No. 2 seed. The soon-to-be junior at Kansas didn't have nearly as much drama as Choe in his opening match. He won 6&4 over Jordan Krulik. Sigel played the front nine in 3 under and made the turn 5 up. Pars at the 10th through 13th holes were good enough to keep it that way, and he closed Krulik out by winning the 14th with a par.

The other Minnesota state high school champ in the men's field, Cecil Belisle, who capped off his senior season at Red Wing by winning the Class AA championship for the second time, also advanced, beating Dawson Wills 3&2. Belisle, who will be heading off for his freshman year at Minnesota State (Mankato) in a few weeks, went 4 up by starting par-birdie-par-birdie, and he ended the match by halving the 16th hole with his fourth birdie of the day.

That sets up a Round of 16 match on Thursday between Sigel and Belisle.   

What might have been the biggest upset of the day was produced by the oldest player left in the tournament, 30-year-old Jim Hoselton, a former pro who regained his amateur status and is in the commercial real estate business in the Phoenix area. Having qualified with score of 153 (77-76), he is the No. 30 seed. But on Wednesday he knocked off No. 3 Lincoln Johnson, a sophomore-to-be at Minnesota. Hoselton made five birdies and was 2 up with two holes to go. Johnson birdied the par-3 17th to keep the match alive, but Hoselton's par at the 18th halved the hole and gave him a 1-up victory.

That means he will face the youngest player in the field, No. 14 seed Josh Galvin, who is still two years away from graduating from high school. Galvin, who will be a junior at Maple Grove, has already played one youth-vs.-experience match, and he defeated the 1983 Resorters champ, 60-year-old Jerry Rose, 2&1. Galvin made five birdies against Rose, who was the MGA Senior Player of the Year each of the last two years.     

Only one of the other top eight seeds besides Johnson lost in the first round of matches. That was No. 7 Andrew Israelson. The Resorters is the second of the three match-play tournaments that make up Minnesota's Resort Circuit. The first is the Birchmont, and Israelson has won that twice (the Pine to Palm is the third of the Resort Circuit tournaments). Last year, he was the medalist at the Resorters and made it to the semifinals, where he lost in 19 holes to Nate Adams.

But Israelson, who will be a senior at North  Dakota State this fall, was dismissed from this year's tournament on Wednesday by No. 26 seed Cade Montplaisir, who is from Arizona but chose to play college golf at Concordia (Moorhead). Montplaisier, who graduated from Concordia in 2017, will face 2019 Alexandria High School graduate Noah Boraas, the No. 10 seed. Boraas is one of the five players still alive who haven't started college yet. He will be a freshman at South Dakota State.

Boraas has already beaten one 2017 college graduate, Mack Farley (St. John's). Farley birdied the fifth hole to go 2 up, but Boraas birdied the sixth and won two the next three holes, as well, on his way to a 3&2 victory. 

The No. 4 seed, Thomas Lehman, is a a recent graduate of Cal Poly. He's also he son of former Resorters champ -- and five-time winner on the PGA Tour -- Tom Lehman. Thomas birdied the first hole and was 3 up at the turn on Alec Heinen, despite an eagle 3 at the sixth hole by Heinen, who is the older brother of former two-time Resorters winner Nick Heinen (now on the Korn Ferry Tour). Heinen birdied the 10th and 11th holes to get back to 1 down, but Lehman birdied the par-3 13th, and he sealed  his 3&1 victory with a 2 on the other back-nine par 3, the 17th.

Last year's runner-up, Nate Adams, who graduated from Maple Grove in June -- and will be a freshman at NDSU this fall -- is the No. 11 seed. He was 1 down to No. 22 Jack Cummings after Cummings birdied the first hole. But Adams won the next five holes, all with  pars. He birdied the 11th hole to go 5 up and won the 13th with a bogey to seal a 6&5 vicdtory. 

In the Championship Flight of the Women's Division, the three Herzogs who went into the Round of 16 all emerged victorious. Defending champ Stephanie Herzog, a junior-to-be at Iowa, defeated Kyla Nygaard, and her younger sister Leah -- a two-time state high school runner-up from Red Wing who will be a freshman at Missouri -- won 5&3 over Elise Stockmoe. Leah (the No. 4 seed), and Stephanie (No. 1) could meet in the semifinals, if they both win their matches on Thursday. 

Next up for Stephanie is No. 8 seed Amanda Woodhull, a 3&2 winner over Lauren Contreras, and Leah will play Amanda Bigger, who beat Amy Jacobson 4&2 in the opening round of matches. 

Their cousin, No. 3 Maddie Herzog, who is between her freshman and sophomore years at NDSU, is in the other (lower) bracket. She won 4&2 over Caitlin Cummings, and will play No. 6 seed Alayna Eldred in the quarters. Eldred, who will be a sophomore at Minnesota, advanced with a 1-up victory over Clara O'Connor. 

The women's medalist was Alejandra Arellano, an assistant coach at Wichita State. Sshe shot even-par 73 in qualifying and then rolled through the Round of 16, winning 8&7 over Taylor Thorson. Her next opponent will be Alexis Guggisberg, who beat Lauren Stockmoe.


98th Resorters

At Alexandria Golf Club

Par 72

Alexandria

Men's Division

Championship Flight

Match play

Round of 32 

Brian Choe (1) def. Lukas Bigger (32) 1 up

Jacob Kelber (17) def. Charlie Stuck (16) 3&2

Miles McCarthy (8) def. Alex Pries (25) 5&4

Nick Jarrett (9) def. Jeremy Decko (24) 2&1

Thomas Lehman (4) def. Alec Heinen (29) 3&1

Will Freeman (20) def. Bryant Black (13) 1 up

Clay Kucera (5) def. Shay Conder (28) 2&1

Dylan Naylor (21) def. Mason Fiddle (12) 5&4

Ben Sigel (2) def. Jordan Krulik (31) 6&4

Cecil Belisle (18) def. Dawson Wills (15) 3&2

Cade Montplaisir (26) def. Andrew Israelson (7) 

Noah Boraas (10) def. Mack Farley (23) 3&2

Jim Hoselton (30) def. Lincoln Johnson (3) 1 up

Josh Galvin (14) def. Jerry Rose (19) 2&1

Andrew Lindberg (6) def. Peter Wilson (27) 3&2

Nate Adams (11) def. Jack Cummings (22) 6&5


Women's Division

Championship Flight

Match play

Round of 16

Stephanie Herzog (1) def. Kyla Nygaard (16) 

Amanda Woodhull (8) def. Lauren Contreras (9) 3&2

Amanda Bigger (4) def. Amy Jacobson (13) 4&2

Leah Herzog (5) def. Elise Stockmoe (12) 5&3

Alejandra Arellano (2) def. Taylor Thoreson (15) 8&7

Alexis Guggisberg (10) def. Lauren Stockmoe (7) 

Madison Herzog (3) def. Caitlin Cummings (14) 4&2

Alayna Eldred (6) def. Clara O'Connor (11) 1 up.